Week 2 - Computer Systems Flashcards
At the most basic level, computers perform operations on what kind of data?
Binary data
A computer processes information according to what?
Set of instructions
What part of the computer does the ‘bulk’ of the processing?
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
What is first needed for computers to be able to process data?
Input hardware e.g keyboard
True or False: Output can be intended to be either permanent or temporary?
True - computers usually store results of their operation in memory. In the long term they may store it in a more permanent location, such as the hard disk.
Chips that relieve the CPU from being bombarded with tasks are called what?
Co-processors.
What are two advantages of co-processors?
The CPU is free to execute other instructions and co-processors are usually more suited to the tasks assigned.
True or False: Early CPUs were very fast at processing complicated maths involving floating-point values.
False
The math co-processor was a processor that could process complicated mathematics and perform them much slower than the CPU could. True or False?
False - it could perform them much faster than a CPU could
What is included in modern CPUs to perform complicated floating-point mathematics that co-processors once handled?
Circuitry.
Fill in the blanks: a __________ provides a unique way to identify each area of memory
Memory address
Fill in the blanks: Memory is organised in a ____ manner, with an address denoting a particular space in memory.
Flat file
The four stages of a computer’s instruction cycle are: ?
Fetch, decode, execute, store
What happens at the fetch stage of the instruction cycle?
The next instruction to run is fetched from memory.
True or False: at the decode stage of the instruction cycle, the instruction information is decoded so the processor knows what area of memory to use.
False - so the processor knows what circuitry to use.
What happens at the execute stage of the instruction cycle?
The instruction is run.
The store stage of the instruction cycle does what?
Stores the results of the operation.
The circuitry for performing related operations are grouped together into what?
Logic units
The most basic logic unit is called what?
Arithmetic Logic Unit, which provides basic arithmetic capabilities
It is normal for modern processors to have an extra logic unit for specific tasks. For example, what type of logic unit can be used for decimal calculations?
Floating-point logic unit
What are registers?
Registers are places in the processor’s circuitry where it can store information about the execution currently taking place.
What are data registers used for?
Temporarily storing data
What are address registers used for?
Keeping track of memory addresses
What are instruction registers used for?
Storing the instruction currently being executed
What are special purpose registers?
Storing internal processor information
True or False: Registers are different from normal computer memory in that they store data only for executing an instruction, and are not used as a general data store.
True
What is the term for a special register that holds the memory address of the next instruction to be executed?
Program counter (PC)
